Dyeing system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12435467-B2
Application number	US-202016943416-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2020
Priority date	Jul 30, 2019
Publication date	Oct 7, 2025
Grant date	Oct 7, 2025

Abstract

A dyeing system includes a conveyance device, a reader, a dye fixing device, and a controller. The conveyance device conveys a conveyance unit including the resin body. The reader reads information relating to the conveyance unit. The dye fixing device heats the resin body in the conveyance unit conveyed by the conveyance device and fixes a dye adhering to a surface of the resin body, on the resin body. The controller acquires a parameter for a process executed to the resin body in the conveyance unit, based on the information read by the reader. The controller controls the dye fixing device based on the acquired parameter.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A dyeing system that dyes a resin body, the dyeing system comprising:
a conveyance device configured to convey a conveyance unit receiving the resin body;
a reader configured to read information relating to the conveyance unit;
a dye transfer device including a heater;
a dye fixing device including a laser beam source that is configured to emit a laser beam and a scanning unit that is configured to scan the resin body with the laser beam emitted by the laser beam source; and
a controller configured to perform a dye transfer process and a dye fixing process, wherein
during the dye transfer process, the controller is configured to control the dye transfer device to transfer, onto a surface of the resin body, a dye on a substrate that faces the resin body by heating the dye on the substrate using the heater; and
during the dye fixing process, the controller is configured to:
acquire, based on the information read by the reader, a parameter set for the resin body in accordance with characteristics of the resin body, and
control the dye fixing device to fix the transferred dye into the surface of the resin body by heating the surface of the resin body using the laser beam source and the scanning unit; and

during the dye fixing process, the controller is further configured to control the scanning unit to scan the surface of the resin body with the laser beam emitted from the laser beam source in accordance with the acquired parameter.

2. The dyeing system according to claim 1 , wherein
the dye fixing device is configured to irradiate the laser beam to the resin body to heat the resin body.

3. The dyeing system according to claim 1 , wherein
the conveyance unit is a plurality of conveyance units,
the reader comprises an identifier reader configured to read an identifier arranged for each of the plurality of conveyance units, and
the controller is configured to acquire the parameter of each of the plurality of conveyance units corresponding to the identifier read by the identifier reader from a database that stores the parameter for each of the plurality of conveyance units.

4. The dyeing system according to claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to, based on process information that indicates process contents to be executed to the resin body, associate the parameter indicating the process contents with the identifier of the conveyance unit in which the resin body is included and cause the database to store the parameter.

5. The dyeing system according to claim 3 , further comprising a printing device configured to print the dye on the substrate,
wherein the controller is configured to control the printing device to print the identifier corresponding to the conveyance unit on the substrate together with the dye.

6. The dyeing system according to claim 3 , wherein the conveyance unit comprises an installation portion in which the resin body is installed, and
the identifier is installed in the installation portion.

7. The dyeing system according to claim 1 , wherein the reader comprises a tag reader that reads the information from a writable tag installed in the conveyance unit, and
the controller is configured to acquire the parameter included in the information read by the tag reader.

8. The dyeing system according to claim 1 , wherein the reader comprises an optical characteristic measuring device configured to measure an optical characteristic of the resin body formed as a lens, and
the controller is configured to acquire a parameter for controlling the dye fixing device based on the optical characteristic of the lens measured by the optical characteristic measuring device.

9. The dyeing system according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one dyeing process executing device configured to execute a process other than dye fixation,
wherein the conveyance device is configured to convey the conveyance unit to each of the dye fixing device and the dyeing process executing device, and
when the controller causes the dyeing process executing device to execute the dyeing process to the resin body in the conveyance unit of which the information is read, the controller is configured to control the dyeing process executing device based on the acquired parameter.

10. The dyeing system according to claim 1 , further comprising a printing device configured to print the dye on the substrate,
wherein, when the controller causes the printing device to print the dye on the substrate used in the conveyance unit of which the information is read, the controller is configured to control the printing device based on the acquired parameter.

11. The dyeing system according to claim 10 , further comprising a rotation device configured to define an orientation of the resin body against the substrate on which the dye is printed by rotating the resin body for each conveyance unit conveyed by the conveyance device,
wherein, when the controller causes the rotation device to rotate the resin body in the conveyance unit of which the information is read, the controller is configured to control the rotation device based on the acquired parameter.

12. The dyeing system according to claim 1 , further comprising a coating device configured to coat the surface of the resin body to which the dye is fixed by the dye fixing device for each conveyance unit conveyed by the conveyance device,
wherein, when the controller causes the coating device to coat the resin body in the conveyance unit of which the information is read, the controller is configured to control the coating device based on the acquired parameter.

13. The dyeing system according to claim 1 , further comprising a printing device configured to print the dye on the substrate,
wherein the conveyance device is configured to convey the conveyance unit from the printing device to the transfer device.

14. The dyeing system according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller is further configured to control the scanning unit by changing a scanning speed of the laser beam for the resin body based on the acquired parameter.

15. The dyeing system according to claim 1 , wherein
the heater is a halogen heater.

Assignees

• Nidek Kk

Inventors

• Shibata Ryoji
• Inuzuka Minoru
• Abe Koji
• Tanaka Motoshi

Classifications

• B05C9/14

  the auxiliary operation involving heating {or cooling} · CPC title

• C23C18/1667

  Radiant energy, e.g. laser · CPC title

• B05C11/1021

  responsive to presence or shape of target (B05C11/1018 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B05C13/02

  for particular articles · CPC title

• G02C7/108

  Colouring materials · CPC title